A Bad Run

Since I became a runner (It still feels weird calling myself a runner, and I obviously love it), I’ve had countless great runs. Many of those great runs have stuck in my mind—the first time my old roommate took me running in Central Park and then we laid on the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the two times I ran NYC Summer Streets; the three half-marathons I’ve done.

But it’s pretty rare that I have a bad run. Even when I’m tired or cranky, I still almost always feel amazing when I’m done running, whether it’s 2 miles or 12.

Today, though, I had a bad run. Like, really bad…

Perhaps it’s because ABS and I took my brother and sister-in-law to Tony’s DiNapoli last night and ate a whole lot of food. And perhaps it’s because of the whole Crohn’s Disease thing.

Here’s what happened (hopefully it’s not going into over-share territory):

• I wake up at 5:30 am. I am tired. But I want to run.
• I get dressed, brush my teeth and spend a bit of time in the bathroom. Nothing happens.
• A little worried about my lack of bathroom activity, but I head out for a run anyway. The plan is to cover 7 miles, but I’m not sure if that’ll happen.
• I run a mile to Central Park. I feel fine.
• I start running south in the park, past the Boathouse and toward Central Park South.
• My stomach starts rumbling.
• I get nervous. This is not good.
• I run to the old Tavern on the Green location which is now a Visitor’s Center with public bathrooms. I need to use them. Now.
• They’re not open yet. After all, it’s only 6:30 am.
• I keep running, and start alternating between running and walking.

Basically, I keep run/walking, my stomach feels like it’s going to explode and I was kind of terrified something awful was going to happen. It was, aside from a terrible injury, my biggest running fear. Gotta go, with no available bathrooms in sight.

Eventually I rounded the lower loop in the park and came around to the Boathouse again. Thankfully this time it was open and I used it (along with a handful of other runners in a similar situation—you’re always in good company in NYC). Then I felt great, but I was super late since I had walked so much. I somehow made it to work on time today, but that wasn’t how I had hoped to start my day!

Aaaaanyway. Let’s backtrack, because yesterday was a good day!

I spent my workday in Brooklyn covering “So You Think You Can Dance.” I do this every year, so it’s starting to lose its luster for me, but it was good to go and catch up with the judges.

The auditions were fun and hopefully the show gets some awesome talent this year.

After work, I went to BodyArt, which I really enjoyed. I was bummed when the class was over. My body was feeling nice and loose and, because it was a sub, we did some new moves that felt oh-so-good.

Then it was off to dinner with Ryan, Michaela and ABS. I take everyone to Tony’s! It’s probably my favorite restaurant in NYC (There are two locations: one in Times Square, near my old apartment, and another on the Upper East Side, near my current apartment—perfect!) and everyone I take there always loves it.

The food is family-style, so we ordered shrimp fra diavolo to start, then split two entrees: a chicken dish (I gave half of mine to ABS because I didn’t really like it) and penne a la vodka, my fave. We also ate a ton of bread and Michaela and I split a brownie sundae for dessert.

Soooo I probably shouldn’t be too surprised that my body went into freak-out mode this morning. Tonight it’s back to better eating and trying to squeeze in some more sleep.

I had a great time with Ryan and Michaela—such a great surprise having them both here—and I’m definitely looking forward to having the whole family together next week for Thanksgiving.

Have a great day!

TELL ME: What are your biggest running fears? Injury? Tummy troubles? Getting lost? Running through a race and slamming into innocent bystanders? And any advice on how to tackle said fears?